Afghanistan’s long-standing effort to distribute electronic ID cards to citizens has been marred by dispute, leading to violent street protests, walkouts in parliament, and scuffles among politicians.

In a bid to break the deadlock — which largely centers on the issue of whether ethnicity should be printed on the documents — a new proposal has been made to distribute not one, but two separate IDs. One would be a biometric card that would not document holders’ nationality or ethnicity, and an accompanying booklet that would specify ethnicity and religion.